Nine elite athletes have been nominated to the first-ever UCI Gravel World Championships in Veneto, Italy, October 8-9, 2022. Originating in the United States, the discipline of Gravel has grown in popularity all around the world. With the introduction of the UCI Gravel World Series this year, the UCI announced a World Championships would also take place in 2022.
As part of the UCI’s Cycling for All initiative, the top 25% of each category at each event in the UCI Gravel World Series automatically earns the rider a spot on the World Championship team. Each national federation then has the opportunity to enter an additional 20 athletes across all categories via quota spots. Athletes were required to petition to be a part of the quota selection process.
For the elite categories, Team USA will be sending four men and five women. The women’s team is stacked with professional gravel racers Lauren De Crescenzo (Atlanta, Ga.; CINCH Cycling), Holly Mathews (Longmont, Colo.; CINCH Cycling), Emily Newsom (Fort Worth, Tex.; EF Education-TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank), Lauren Stephens (Dallas; EF Education-TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank), and Sarah Sturm (Durango, Colo.; Specialized/ Rapha/ Wahoo). This will be Stephens’ third World Championship back-to-back – Marathon Mountain Bike Worlds the weekend of September 17, straight to Road Worlds on September 24, then two weeks later, Gravel Worlds. Former Road Race National Champion and SBT Gravel Winner Alex Howes (Nederland, Colo.; EF Education-EasyPost) will headline the men’s team.
All automatically qualified riders for the amateur age categories can be found here. A total of 44 Americans qualified at the Highlands Gravel Classic (USA), Wish One Gravel Race (FRA), La Monsterrato (ITA), and Houffa Gravel (BEL). Five additional riders were selected via the petition process, which include: Rachel Losada (19-34 Women), Michael Garrison (19-23 Men), Betsy Welch (40-44 Women), Chad Underwood (45-49 Men), and Richard Mull (70-74 Men).
The Team USA roster is as follows:
Elite Men
Alex Howes (Nederland, Colo.; EF Education-EasyPost)
Jacob Peterson (Lakewood, Colo.)
Mat Stephens (Dallas)
David Van Orsdel (Minneapolis)
Elite Women
Lauren De Crescenzo (Atlanta; CINCH Cycling)
Holly Mathews (Longmont, Colo.; CINCH Cycling)
Emily Newsom (Fort Worth, Texas; EF Education-TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank)
Lauren Stephens (Dallas; EF Education-TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank)
Sarah Sturm (Durango, Colo.; Specialized/ Rapha/ Wahoo)
